Trump Allies Post Reporters' Old, Racist Tweets

Newser — Neal Colgrass

Reporters who have posted anything racist, even years ago, watch out—there could be a target on your back. That's the takeaway of a New York Times article about a loosely connected group of conservatives gunning for media organizations that seem opposed to President Trump.

Among the players is Arthur Schwartz, 47, a headstrong conservative consultant who tweeted a link this week to a Breitbart article. After a Times editorial accused Trump of inciting anti-Semitism, and the paper published an unflattering article about new White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, Breitbart ran a piece about tweets written by a Times political editor about a decade ago.

And the tweets were not pretty.

"I was going to say 'Crappy Jew Year,' but one of my resolutions is to be less anti-Semitic," wrote the editor, Tom Wright-Piersanti, in a now-deleted 2010 tweet.

"So… HAPPY Jew Year. You Jews." Other tweets by Wright-Piersanti—who has since apologized—mocked Asians and people from India. Notably, the Breitbart article about him was quickly retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.

and Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson. Schwartz has also linked to prejudiced tweets by other journalists, including a CNN photo editor who was forced to resign over anti-Semitic tweets he wrote as a teenager.

"A culture war is a war," said former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in defending the practice. "There are casualties in war. And that's what you’re seeing."